Matthew S. Rowe

Matthew S. Rowe, son of Matthew and Stella (Tomczyk), both deceased, died on May 18, 2013.

A graduate of Millburn High School and former summer employee of Paper Mill Playhouse, Matt enlisted in the United States Navy, where he served as a machinist’s mate on the USS Enterprise. Matt was a lifelong fan of the U.S. Navy and the New York Yankees, although he later married into a Red Sox family full of Coast Guard veterans.

In 1968, Matt joined the Millburn Police Department. He loved police work. He received two mayoral commendations: one for the capture and arrest of a juvenile responsible for at least nine burglaries in a short time span, and another when, with Officer Boegershausen, who later became Chief of Police, he engaged in a chase of a suspicious car. Upon apprehension, Matt and Boegershausen found that the vehicle contained narcotics and other drugs with a street value in excess of $10,000.

Perhaps a highlight of both his career and life, in 1971 Matt answered a call on Millburn’s Locust Avenue. An infant had stopped breathing. Matt tapped the baby’s back and then applied a newly-acquired resuscitator and restored the baby’s breathing, earning the gratitude of the infant’s family and a front page story in The Item.

In 1972, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office recruited Matt to investigate Hudson County homicides. He was an aggressive homicide detective, but his career was cut short in 1979, when he suffered a disabling injury in a five-foot fall.

Following his injury, he studied photography, researched the burgeoning field of DNA, and volunteered for several organizations, including a not-for-profit housing organization in Miami.

It was through this work that he met his wife, Pat Canavan, who survives him.

He is also survived by his children, Brian Rowe and Jennifer Gaydos, her husband Rob, his grandchildren Ryan Gaydos and Samantha Gaydos, and his former wife Jacquelyn.

Matt and Pat recently moved from Eastham on Cape Cod to Sparta, to be closer to his family and enjoy NJ pizza.

A memorial service will be held at the convenience of the family. Final arrangements are entrusted to Goble Funeral Home, Sparta, NJ